Traditional English Food

crazyH

I invited my friends, who had just arrived Irom India, for Xmas Dinner. I knew they hated it, because they hardly ate anything - they just picked at it. They found it too bland. So I offered some chilli sauce. They hated the Xmas pudding too. It was a monumental disaster.

and Europeans and people from other countries with milder cuisines have picked at food in countries where food is highly spiced. Countries with highly spiced foods are often very hot ones where spices are needed to preserve food or hide the fact that it has gone off.

Finding yourself in a strange country with a very different cuisine is always very hard on the visitor.

So, I’m not the person to offer any advice 😂

I invited my friends, who had just arrived Irom India, for Xmas Dinner. I knew they hated it, because they hardly ate anything - they just picked at it. They found it too bland. So I offered some chilli sauce. They hated the Xmas pudding too. It was a monumental disaster.

Hope they are not vegetarian, with so many votes for roast beef.

1summer thanks for popping back with an update.
How lovely to meet more of her wider family.

Indigo8

Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. You can't get more traditional than that. Some nice roasties, green veg and carrots.
Fruit crumble with cream, ice cream or egg custard.

Bit more special than cottage pie, fish and chips or bangers and mash.

That’s what I would serve, always goes down a treat.
Check first tho in case the visitors are vegetarian .

Thank you, you all have given me lots of “food” for thought. I know she like fish and pork as she has made me both in her traditional dishes,
I like my beef rare so maybe consider roast pork dinner. I did take them to The Ivy for her birthday last year and persuaded her to try the shepherds pie which she loved, I might look for a recipe that makes it a bit special.
I know that Filipinos have a very sweet tooth, when she visits home she always brings me lots of sugary snacks, so still thinking of treacle tart or a crumble and custard.

Apple crumble and custard 😀

Eating our meat when we can hear the cow still mooing is a British perversion.

I think this was the point being queried!

Many countries eat raw meat and fish, or 'blue' or rare meat.
It's not a British perversion although seems to be the fashion with cookery programmes on TV.

MaizieD

^Eating our meat when we can hear the cow still mooing is a British perversion.^

I am astounded that you said that, MOnica when you have spent so much time in France! Where the lamb is still baaing and the duck still quacking😁 And where, surely, steak tartare originated ...

Steak hache is something very different in that the meat for it is very carefully selected and kept hygenically - and of course I have never ordered it.

The same with any other food stuff you do not like. In a restaurant situation, where there is a menu to choose from, you do not order a dish containing ingredients you do not like

In this case we are talking about people being guests being offered a meal in someone's house where there may well be no choice. In those circumstances you need to plan the meal with consideration for the highest chance of acceptance - and in those circumstances you need to avoid 'marmite' foods.

I would consider undercooked meat to be a 'marmite' food and would never offer it to guests, especially guests from another country and with whome I may not be familiar.

This is why I heartily concurred with one posters suggestion of serving roast pork - a meat they will be very familiar with, but cooked in a traditional British fashion.

MaizieD

^Eating our meat when we can hear the cow still mooing is a British perversion.^

I am astounded that you said that, MOnica when you have spent so much time in France! Where the lamb is still baaing and the duck still quacking😁 And where, surely, steak tartare originated ...

😁
I remember DS coming home from a French exchange visit and saying he couldn't eat the lamb served for school dinners because it was practically raw.
He cooks lamb now but slow roasts it for ages.

NotSpaghetti

Could you put together a few ideas and ask your nephew's wife what she thinks her family might enjoy most?
I'm sure she'd like to be helpful.

Good point about the dairy. Why not have a choice of puddings?

Good plan, ask your nephew's wife.

As 86% of the country is Catholic, I think rare beef is a safe choice (on your menu to hand her) and what we'd serve.

Summer pudding with frozen fruit? I didn't know that was possible - also never anywhere apart from the UK, not sure others make it.

Eating our meat when we can hear the cow still mooing is a British perversion.

I am astounded that you said that, MOnica when you have spent so much time in France! Where the lamb is still baaing and the duck still quacking😁 And where, surely, steak tartare originated ...

Hotpot takes some preparation but, once prepared, that's it and it is traditional.

Lot depends on how many people are attending. Roast yes but if it's quite a few people you need to keep it all warm.
You could always make a big Shepherds pie with veggies , they have that on the menu at The Ivy. One of my favourites in there.

winterwhite

I wouldn’t say it was trad English to have any kind of first course before roast beef. And as someone else has said impossible to get the timings right, and risk that the main course gets cold or dry.
Summer pudding made with frozen raspberries blackcurrants and blackberries just as trad, lighter than crumble and custard and no last minute work.
You’re surely aiming for a friendly family occasion, not a Mrs Beeton gastronomic tour de force.

Summer pudding made with frozen raspberries blackcurrants and blackberries just as trad, lighter than crumble and custard and no last minute work.
Gooseberries too! It has to be made the day before so no hassle on the day.

I don't know about the guests, but this thread is making me very hungry! I've just made apple crumble, so we will be having some of that later.

If you serve beef, do NOT serve it other than fully cooked.

Eating our meat when we can hear the cow still mooing is a British perversion. In hot countries, and the Philippines does have both hot weather and, more generally, poor food hygiene, no one would dream of eating meat other than fully cooked.

Personally, I think the suggestion of serving roast pork rather than beef, was inspired. A bringing together of a traditional British meaal, with the meat that your guests will be most famiiar with - and plenty of crackling!

I wouldn’t say it was trad English to have any kind of first course before roast beef. And as someone else has said impossible to get the timings right, and risk that the main course gets cold or dry.
Summer pudding made with frozen raspberries blackcurrants and blackberries just as trad, lighter than crumble and custard and no last minute work.
You’re surely aiming for a friendly family occasion, not a Mrs Beeton gastronomic tour de force.

I think a good beef or lamb hotpot in the slow cooker is a better idea, as it would free you up to enjoy their company rather than be stuck in the kitchen trying to get the timings right.

Like wise for the starter- maybe a vegetable soup with good bread and butter? Especially if the weather is cold!

Apple crumble with warm custard too- they may be feeling the cold after all!

Whatever- good luck and enjoy.

Yet another vote for a roast, preferably beef, with all the trimmings inc horseradish and York puds.

Melon to start and Eton mess to finish!

Good luck whatever you choose.

Could you put together a few ideas and ask your nephew's wife what she thinks her family might enjoy most?
I'm sure she'd like to be helpful.

Good point about the dairy. Why not have a choice of puddings?

The Philippines is mainly Christian and they eat a lot of pork and fried things. They also have a "sweet tooth"

I know this is a terrible generalisation but my truly lovely daughter-in-law is dual heritage and her family are all in the Philippines.
Apologies.

My next-door neighbour is also from the Philippines and has talked to me extensively about food there. The first time I went over to a party they had pork about 5 different ways including a suckling pig and at least a dozen delicious but very sweet deserts/cakes/puddings

My son lives between the Philippines and California and says he puts on so much weight over in the Philippines with all the fried food and sugary treats that he has to go on starvation rations in America!

So back to your question.
I think a roast dinner is a good idea. I'd probably suggest pork (roast with apple sauce) - but just in case your nephew's relations have a preference for sweet things I'd maybe put a sugar shaker or jar of honey/maple syrup on the table during the puddings.

Oh yes, just thought - rice pudding. That bridges the gap between Traditional British and something familiar.
The people I know love baked puddings (chocolate rice being one).

A roast dinner is an obvious choice , but in your situation I would probably opt for a casserole of some sort. Beef or chicken in the slow cooker , lots of meat , onions mushrooms lentils , stock. If it's a luncheon, cook it overnight if an evening meal get it going early morning. Serve with a selection of vegetables and creamy mashed potatoes. A slow cooker gives you the opportunity to amend if necessary, once cooked your liking simply turn it down and forget it till you are ready to serve. Follow this with an apple pie or a crumble . Enjoy your guests .

Religions even